Group IVB metal oxides high permittivity gate insulators deposited from anhydrous metal nitrates

The electrical performance of column IVB metal oxide thin films deposited f rom their respective anhydrous metal nitrate precursors show significant di fferences. Titanium dioxide has a high permittivity, but shows a large posi tive fixed charge and low inversion layer mobility. The amorphous interfaci al layer is compositionally graded and contains a high concentration of Si- Ti bonds. In contrast, ZrO2 and HfO2 form well defined oxynitride interfaci al layers and a good interface with silicon with much less fixed charge. Th e electron inversion layer mobility for an HfO2/SiOxNy/Si stack appears com parable to that of a conventional SiO2/Si interface.